If you have ever been camping during the dog days of summer, you know how miserable a tent can be when it is hot and humid.

Tent Air Conditioner – How to Camp and Stay Cool

So this raises the question of whether there is a way to keep your tent cool while camping during the hottest months of the year.

The good news is that it is entirely possible to camp out in the summer and stay cool. You just need to rig up a camping tent air conditioner.

Now you have a few options for this. Your first option is to adapt a regular window air conditioner or portable ac unit for your tent. You second option is to invest in a specially-designed air conditioner for a tent. Here is an overview of each strategy.

If you plan to use a standard room air conditioner to cool your tent, you have to strategize to get it up and running.

First of all, you need to ensure that you have access to 120-volt electricity for your campsite. You will also need an outdoor extension cord to provide electricity to your ac unit.

Second, you need to decide if you should use a window air conditioner or a portable ac unit.

A window air conditioner cools very well and is generally your most cost effective ac choice.

But it poses some challenges when used in a tent. In particular, a window air conditioner is designed to sit on a window ledge with an open vent on the back to expel the hot air. To make this work in a tent, you will need to make some modifications to your tent.

To use a window air conditioner work as a tent air conditioner, you will have to situate it so that the back of the unit rests up against a window, through the wall, or in the doorway of the tent.

The easiest strategy is to place the window unit in the door of the tent and then close the tent flaps around it. This will give it adequate space to vent out the hot air out of the tent. You can also place the unit on a table or stand to keep it off of the ground.

If your tent has two doors, a window air conditioner unit will be even easier to install. Simply place it to vent through one of the doors. As people enter the tent, have them come in the other door so as not to tip over the ac unit.

Your final option for a window unit is to place it with its vent blowing out through a window in the tent. Alternatively, you could cut a hole in the tent to allow the hot air to escape.

You could use on of those portable ac units and tweak it to work in a tent. These units have to sit inside the tent and be vented through a hose to outside of the tent. The main problem with the portable ac is that it will take up a lot of space inside the tent.

Tent Air Conditioner Alternatives

If you don’t want to lug your window or portable ac with you to the campsite, you do have a few other options if you are looking to cool off your tent.

Here are two other ways to keep your tent cool:

1) Coleman Tent Air Conditioner Cool Zephyr Ceiling Fan (cost $25)

Coleman Cool Zephyr Ceiling Fan with Light

The Zephyr ceiling fan is not an air conditioner per se, but it can do a great job keeping your tent cool in the worst heat of summer.

Plus, it is reasonably priced and quite small, making it the perfect guest in your tent. The Zephyr also runs on D batteries so it doesn’t require a 120-volt outlet. This unit also comes with a mister and a light.